Fire Melts Heartfilia
by Compulsive Writer
Summary: Trapped beneath an icy mountain range, Natsu vows to protect Lucy, body and soul. Rated for sexuality.


**FIRE MELTS HEARTFILIA**

 _Somewhere in the mountains of Northern Fiore…_

"I think this is the end of the road," Happy muttered warily as he placed both paws on a wall of stone, and stared up into the darkness.

Try as he might the blue Exceed could not make out the ceiling in that place where the meager light of the cave ended and the infinite stretch of shadow began. Finally he glanced back to Natsu, his dark eyes heavy with defeat. The Fire Dragon Slayer still held a small ball of fire, tumbling like liquid flames in his palm, to light their path through the cavernous underworld. Over his right shoulder lay the fall of wet, blonde hair that framed the pale flesh of a young, pretty face, twisted with pain and exhaustion. Happy floated close on his magical wings and peered at her. "How is she, Natsu?"

"Soaked to the bone and ice cold," the Fire Dragon Slayer said. His own tone matched the grim expression on Happy's face. He shot a look over his shoulder down the tunnel from which they had come, but there were no signs of the creatures that had given them chase. For the time being, they were safe. He sank to his knees and gently lowered the huddled mass the cave floor. Happy alighted next to the girl and put his paws on her contorted face.

"Oh, Lucy…" The Exceed shook his head miserably and looked up at Natsu. "I don't think there's a fever, yet anyway. But she's trembling. If we don't do something quick she's bound to get pneumonia, and there's nothing we can do for her down here if she gets sick."

"First things first," Natsu said.

"What's that?"

"We've got to get her out of those wet clothes and warm her up."

"There's another problem, Natsu. Everything's soaked. We don't have anything dry for her to wear."

"You let me handle that, buddy," Natsu said. He rose to his feet and moved a few paces away, studying the ground at his feet. "I'm a Fire Dragon Slayer, remember."

"Well, yeah, I guess," Happy said uncertainly, watching.

Eventually Natsu picked out a spot that he thought would work and glanced over his shoulder. "Here. Bring over your pack. But make sure you don't get too close. It's about to get pretty hot in here." He put his palms flat against the ice-cold stone. A magic circle appeared in the form of swirling fire just beneath his fingertips, and he loosed his power slowly into the rock, dribbling in just enough heat to get it to glow without making it too unbearably hot for an Exceed or a human girl.

Happy waited a pace away just to be sure, and then he dropped his green pack onto the ground next to the fire and began to pull out supplies. He paused momentarily to mourn the loss of his meal rations, which must have been washed away in the underground river, and then began to spread two blankets, soaked but salvageable, directly onto the heated stone. Natsu added his scarf, tunic, and trousers next to the blankets and then turned to see to Lucy.

"Hey buddy, can you do me a favor and check things out up top? Obviously we can't keep going forward, but maybe there's a tunnel up above that we can use keep moving. Once Lucy's feeling up to it."

"Up, huh?" Happy said, trying to keep the questions out of his tone as he peered up the inky darkness. "You gonna be okay down here on your own?"

Natsu gazed at his friend before a smile crossed over his features. "Just what kind of question is that, pal?" He flexed an arm, his smirk showing his usual brand of bravado. "We're gonna be just fine. You just have to have a little faith is all."

Happy glanced at Natsu, and then to Lucy. And then he drew a big breath and forced a smile of his own. "Aye sir," he said. It lacked the usual punch with which he usually spoke the words, but there was still confidence in his expression. His wings returned in a shimmer of white light, and he took the the sky. Natsu only watched for a moment before turning back to Lucy.

Kneeling next to her, Natsu reached out and then paused, his fingertips hovering just over the big white buttons that held her pink parka tight against her curvy frame. The coat was warm but poorly insulated. Made entirely of wool, it had soaked in every drop of water. Natsu thought about how she had gone under, pulled by the tremendous drag of the powerful current. Somehow he had been able to find her before she had been swept away, but it had taken a lot of effort to heave her heavy, waterlogged frame from the rushing rapids.

He swallowed, and then slowly began to slip each of the buttons free. His fingers trembled with nervous tension. He'd never had to undress a girl before. He tried to shake the thought away. This was, after all, a life or death situation. Even so, he couldn't clear his mind of the unwanted thoughts as the parka slackened around Lucy's still frame.

Next he pulled off one of her boots, tipping it over so he could watch water dribble out onto the stone floor. He grimaced after a moment and tossed the boot aside, pulling off the other, followed by her heavy, wool socks. Those too joined the small pile. Beneath the knee-length parka, Lucy had worn a sleeveless white tunic with blue trim and beige slacks. He carefully undid her black belt, setting aside her whip and her precious collection of celestial spirit keys.

Just as Natsu had suspected, her clothes were drenched through to the skin. He didn't like what he was about to do. It somehow didn't feel right, but then, it wasn't as if Lucy was up for giving him permission. He tugged the tunic out from under the waistband of her slacks and began to slip those buttons free as well. He thought his fingers trembled even more than she did, though for a much different reason. He wet his lips with his tongue and forced the thought out of his brain. He was doing something very important here, and distractions wouldn't do anyone any good. He peeled away her tunic, revealing the wondrous swell of her breasts, neatly cupped by a frilly white bra that held each mound's perfect shape. He could see the rise of her nipples poking through the soaked fabric, just thin enough that he could see the discoloration of the areola just beneath. A lewd thought popped into his head, but he discarded it as abruptly as it had come. He knew more would follow. After all, he hadn't even undone her pants.

She was going to kill him, he imagined. If she survived the chill threatening her life.

With a little effort he peeled her slacks off her legs, leaving her with only her underwear. He looked forward to what came next even less than he had the rest. He heated the floor again, where he had laid out her wet clothes, this time he allowed his magic to touch more of the stone beneath him. Already the floor was so much warmer than it had been. This time he'd allowed his power to spread wider, heating much more of the floor than he had initially. It was enough at the epicenter, where he'd touched the stone and he'd set out Lucy's clothes to dry. He figured he'd have to touch the spot with his power a few more times in order for everything to dry properly.

Turning back to Lucy, he noticed that she still trembled fiercely. The floor was warm, but the icy chill still clung to the air and there were no dry blankets to wrap her up in. Which meant there was only one way that he would be able to properly heat her. Again he imagined that he was about to make probably the last big mistake of his life. He peeled off his own wet pants and the boxers beneath. They wouldn't do much good. Then he leaned over her again, swallowed hard, and reached behind her back to unstrap her bra. It took a good half minute of fumbling for him to figure out the garment—this was, after all, a very new experience for him—which he tossed over to the most heated area of the floor. He avoided looking at her bare chest and instead focused on pulling off her wet panties, a frilly strip of lace that matched her bra perfectly.

This wasn't exactly how he had pictured his first intimate experience with a girl. Particularly since she was so out of it. He couldn't tell if Lucy was sleeping or simply unconscious because she was shivering so violently. The contortion on her face seemed to indicate that she was in a great deal of discomfort. Natsu had been underwater for nearly as long as she had been, but his body was much sturdier. As a Dragon Slayer he was able to regulate his body temperature to some degree, something she couldn't do.

With the wet clothes gone he easily stroked her wet hair back so that it was out of her face, touching it with just enough fire magic in order to begin the drying process. Then he crawled in close to her from behind and cradled her body into his gentle arms, holding her close, pressing his torso to hers. He called forth the heat within his body, letting in bleed out of him in slow, steady pulses. Gentle waves of heat easily caressed her bare flesh. In mere moments, Lucy had stopped shaking. The excess water that had coated her flesh evaporated in invisible wisps of vapor. The tension in her body slowly alleviated, and, for the first time, she seemed to rest easy.

He held her there, drawing slow, easy breaths, as he held her to him, feeding her his heat. One arm was wrapped around her waist, the other around her arms and over her breasts. He draped one of his legs over hers so he could keep her from trying to roll away. He felt incredibly awkward, but it relieved him there was no one around to see.

He lay there, breathing deeply, exhaling puffs of hot air from his nostrils. It made for an interesting hairdryer. He tried not to think too hard on it. Lucy had become one of his closest friends. Though it had only been a handful of months together in the sense of their internal clocks. What, maybe seven or eight months? Sure, seven years had passed since that early July day back in X784, but they had spent those years in stasis on the remnants of Tenrou Island after it had fallen into the sea. And though they had technically been reanimated mere months ago, back in April, they then spent a good chunk of that time in the Celestial Spirit world, where time flowed differently than it did in their own. They lost nearly three whole months in that debacle.

Seven years they'd been together, Natsu thought. Of course to them it had only been about eight months, but he had grown to know her in ways he knew no other Fairy Tail wizard, many of whom he'd known far longer. He knew she still somehow felt woefully inadequate among some of her guild mates. She didn't know her true strength, and though she was exceedingly competent in her various talents, showing a great amount of confidence, he also knew her to be a realist. What she didn't grasp was the reality of Fairy Tail since she had joined.

She made Fairy Tail what it was today, in her own way. Maybe she didn't realize it but it was true. The same could be said of every wizard who had ever walked through its doors. Some might not recognize it as Natsu did, but that didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that Lucy Heartfilia made Fairy Tail a better guild. In all the same ways she made Team Natsu better. Hell, before Lucy Team Natsu consisted of only himself and his flying blue buddy. And then she had tagged along, and before he knew it they, along with Erza, Gray, Wendy, Carla, and occasionally Juvia, had become the strongest team in Fairy Tail.

She was the glue that held the team together whenever it seemed everything was crashing down around them.

* * *

She didn't remember opening her eyes, but she knew she must have. It was impossible to know just how long she had been staring into the darkness dead ahead, unmoving, unfeeling. She only knew two very concrete tidbits: she couldn't move… and she was somehow, miraculously warm.

She didn't remember how it was her world had gone so mind-numbingly, bone-chillingly cold. She remembered only darkness and weightlessness, and above all else, the cold. And she was pretty sure she could remember being alone. Such a terribly empty feeling, loneliness. Something akin to death, when she thought about it.

And before, when it was simply the cold, dark emptiness, she had feared the very real possibility that she was dead. Now she was no longer cold. The warmth… No, not warmth, but heat, real heat, the way it used to feel when, as a toddler, she had curled up on the love seat between her mom and dad in the family room by the fire and listened to the muted tones of conversation. Sometimes about work, sometimes about life. Tones of love, before her mother died, before the emptiness, before she had ever been forced to cope with being alone.

As she sat there, staring off into space, she realized that her eyes were coming into focus. There was light after all, and though it wasn't much she realized that her eyes, which had become suited to the dark, would adjust fairly quickly even if there was only a little. She peered about, and sure enough, she began to grasp the mottled grays and blacks before her eyes to be a mix of cavern walls and shadow, where the light couldn't touch.

Cave. She was in a cave. Of course. As if beckoned from a dream, a rush of scattered memories tousled around unexpectedly in her brain. She squinted as if she might somehow squeeze some sense of coherency into her thoughts. Mission. Mountains. A key.

A black key.

Right. She'd been with the others. With Erza, Gray, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Juvia, and, of course, with Natsu. He'd been there too, hadn't he? In fact, she suddenly remembered that he'd dived in after her, just as the ground beneath her had given way.

She was relatively certain that had he not grabbed her wrist, just before they were together submerged into darkness, she would dead right now. Not looking at the stony cave wall, who knew how many miles beneath the bank of Mount Souci in Northern Fiore. Had the others followed? She was relatively certain that Happy would have plunged into the darkness right after they themselves had vanished from view, determined to pull them out of harm's way, but she also knew the sense of urgency everyone felt in completing their current quest.

Lives were at stake. They had to deal with the task at hand. They would have left Natsu, Happy, and Lucy to fend for themselves. With her gate keys, Natsu's Dragon Slayer Magic, and Happy's aera magic, the trio made a formidable team. Erza would demand they press forward, and the others would know she was right. They had to go on. Lucy didn't blame them; their three lives were nothing. If they failed their current mission, thousands could be lost. Laxus had driven that point home quite clearly. They had to continue on. They had to recover the black key.

Lucy drew a slow breath. The fact she couldn't move didn't bother her. She was perfectly comfortable where she was at. the gentle heat rolling in waves off her body felt good. It worked wonders for her muscles, which should have been stiff and sore, but somehow they felt as nurtured and relaxed as they might have felt back home, folded beneath the covers and draped atop the down mattress in apartment in Magnolia.

Now, where exactly was she? She thought about it. The cave, of course. But she was obviously lying down. Not on the floor, exactly. There was something solid and smooth beneath her, but it didn't feel like stone or earth. It wasn't exactly a mattress, either, but it was definitely warm and most likely the source of her comfort.

She felt something draped over her shoulder. Something else across her abdomen. Whatever it was connected behind her to long, rippled form. One of her thighs made contact with the stone floor, but the floor was as toasty as the object of her salvation. Her butt was raised up, cradled in a mass of heat. There were two limb-like things, one beneath her legs, and the other entwined around them.

Something in the back of her head flared off like a warning siren. Just as that happened, she felt something lift against her back. Up, down. Up, down. Natsu's hot breath splashed across her back and down her spine.

Her face suddenly flared bright red as a shudder of sheer anxiety pulsed through her.

Skin. Skin on skin. Natsu's hot, rippled flesh. Draped on her. What the hell? Was he trying to cop feel? And not just any flesh. All flesh. Her backside was buried against his hips and into his groin. His arms wrapped around her and holding her to his chest. His legs intertwined with her own. Nervous tension spilling through her body, she craned her neck down just enough to peer at the arm draped over her chest. The deep valley of cleavage tumbled further down than any dress she might have ever dared to wear in public, and she could tell with a certainty that she was buck naked.

What the hell what the hell what the hell? The trio of words spilled into her brain in an endless cycle, over and over while she stared off into into darkness. No beginning, no end, they replaced any sense of coherent thoughts that she might have tried to string together a moment before. What the hell what the hell what the hell what the hell?

Again his chest rose and fell against her back. And again. And again.

She suddenly realized that he was sleeping. She caught her breath, sinking her teeth into her lower lip, and forced herself to think rationally.

The fall. The plunge into empty silence. The cold. She'd fallen into a cave and probably into some sort of underground lake or stream. He'd probably held her wrist the whole way down. Natsu had never tried to take advantage before. He was a bit of a clueless idiot but he was no lech. He was often charming in his cluelessness, and on occasion she had been more than irritated at his distinct lack of interest. Before Natsu she'd always been confident in her curvaceous figure, but he had looked at her in a way very few men ever had. It was not about her body with him.

Oh, there was the occasional crack about her weight, but she could deal.

Most importantly, he'd never tried to cop a feel. He looked her in the eye and smiled his brilliant smile, with a touch of arrogance befitting a Dragon Slayer. When he said her name there was real feeling in the word. There was endearment and loyalty and trust. Most importantly, there was friendship. She had always been his friend first and foremost, and maybe in the beginning that had caught her off guard. Most guys could be easily swayed when she just dipped her shoulders to expose a bit of cleavage or wiggled her bottom in just the right direction. Not Natsu Dragneel. When it came to Natsu, she didn't have to make herself less than who she was. If ever she needed him, he would always be there, and that was all that mattered.

She knew beyond all doubt that had he not dove in after her, she would be dead right now. Again, like so many times in their brief history together, he had come for her, no questions asked. All that mattered was that through Fairy Tail, they shared a bond like family.

The realization that she was glad it was Natsu softened her further. She'd never known a more fiery spirit, nor anyone more fiercely loyal. He would do anything for her, but he would also do nearly anything for anyone in Fairy Tail. She'd seen that truth many times over. He'd been dead set against Laxus's expulsion after the Battle of Fairy Tail, and he had been eager to welcome the man home when Gildarts used his brief time as guild master to grant him full membership once again.

But it was not only members of Fairy Tail who could earn that trust. Even the most fierce of enemies, through the bonds of Fairy Tail, could stand as equals in Natsu's eyes. Juvia and Gajeel were evidence of that. And then even Sting and Rogue and Yukino proved worthy after the Grand Magic Games, without ever joining Fairy Tail's ranks.

The guy was some sort of special kind of crazy. He was a special kind of friend.

"Oh Natsu," she mumbled, a small smile touching her lips as she allowed her body to relax against his. "Idiot."

* * *

Sometime later, Natsu stirred. He blinked groggily and then yawned. Then he sniffed the air. He remembered by scent: the chill stale of the cavern was there, lingering. It had been a couple hours at least since he'd used his power to produce heat, but the ground beneath him was still warm, and the girl in his arms still dry and toasty. That was a relief.

Wait… girl in his arms? Lucy? It had to be Lucy. But what the heck was she doing in his arms? Warm, silky hair like spun gold fell between them, a bit over each of their shoulders. It was dry. Their mingling flesh was damp and sticky, their two bodies cast in a cloak of heat. The memories rushed back to him in the span between heartbeats.

The fall. He'd dove in after her as the snow-covered earth beneath her feet collapsed. As they'd tumbled into the darkness, he'd managed to grab her by the wrist. The drop into darkness had seemed immeasurable, ending, mercifully, when they plunged into an underground river, vast and deep enough that neither hit the bottom. He had lost his grip on her, and the current had threatened to pull them apart, but with one last ditch effort, and a pulse of magic power released from the soles of his feel, Natsu had closed the gap between them and grasped her by the hair, just before she could be pulled beyond his reach.

He listened in silence to the sound of her even breathing.

A moment passed, and then another. She seemed to be resting easily. Natsu pressed his face against her nape, feeling the warmth of her hair against his face. It was in sore need of shampoo and a hairbrush, but after nearly a week's journey through the mountains, on foot, he could understand. He was pretty sure he could use a bath himself. She was safe, and that was all that mattered.

Natsu eased himself away from her. He was careful not to let her head, her feet, or anything in between hit the stone floor as he unwrapped his body from hers. Then he pushed himself to his feet and idly moved away, stretching to work the kinks out of his muscles. He was a bit sore but he could deal. The floor, he noted, was cooler the further he moved from where they had lain, but it was not ice cold as it had been when they first arrived.

At last he knelt over their clothes and picked one of the two thick plush blankets that he and Happy had spread out over the ground to dry. He tested the soft fabric. Dry, but not as soft as it could be. He grabbed the other. Same result. Minerals, he decided. Probably clung to the fabric from the underground lake only to dry on later with the help of Natsu's magic. He muttered softly under his breath, but he knew it would have to be good enough. Beggars can't be choosers. Wasn't that how the old saying went? He let the second blanket lay where he dropped it and pushed himself to his feet, bunching the other up so he could carry it a bit easier.

Then he turned back to Lucy, and froze.

She had pushed herself up onto her rump, her back to him, but she'd twisted enough so that he got a good view of her side profile. It was art manifest. Though no one would ever identify Lucy as the epitome of woman's grace—she was no Mirajane or Jenny Realight of Blue Pegasus—not even Natsu was oblivious to her natural beauty. Clear skin. A voluptuous figure. Not plump but certainly not skinny either, with generous curves in all the right places. Her golden hair spilled down and around her shoulders, as if attempting unsuccessfully to shield the girl's simple nakedness—of which he saw every bare inch, each lush curve, from her legs to her bottom to her hips to her shoulders and one large, full breast—from his prying eyes even though the expression on her face betrayed no embarrassment. In fact, he wasn't sure he could identify her expression at all. He knew only that she stared off into space, with seemingly no interest in his presence at all.

He realized he was gaping, and that he still held the blanket loosely in his arms. He gathered his wits, and the blanket, again, and started toward her. It seemed an eternity before he finally reached her. She didn't look his way, only continued to stare off into space, as he went to a knee and lay the blanket gently over her shoulders.

"Hey… uh… Lucy? I–"

She slumped against him. Her weight caused him to fall back, and his butt hit the floor. She squirmed closer and was practically sitting in his lap before he could object. His mouth hung open, but immediately snapped shut. Her behavior seemed odd to him. This wasn't the Lucy he had come to know in their brief time together. But why was she acting this way? She couldn't still be tired. He eyed her suspiciously, but she didn't make eye contact. Instead she stared off at nothing, the blanket loose against her. Natsu averted his gaze when he realized that he had been rather unsuccessful covering her. Most of her front and her legs were still very much exposed, though Lucy didn't seem to care. When she didn't speak, he shifted again, looking down into her face, and saw not anger or contempt, but rather what seemed to be a mixture of exhaustion and sorrow. He didn't understand. Hell, he'd never understood women, and doubted he ever would.

He didn't try to pull away. That would probably be the wrong move. Instead he drew a slow breath and put an arm around her, being very careful to be sure his hand touched her only through the blanket.

"How long was I out?"

"Not sure," he replied, staring off into space over the top of her head. "I think we were both pretty tired. I was out before I realized it."

"I see. And Happy?"

"He's looking for a way out." He swallowed and then asked, "What do you remember?"

Lucy snorted. "I'm pretty sure I remember falling into a giant bucket of ice water."

Natsu had to smile. "Yeah. Something like that."

"I'm lucky to be alive, aren't I?"

"What are you talking about? I was right with you. I wasn't going to let anything happen to you."

"What if I'd hit rock instead of water, Natsu?"

"Well, I suppose I would have hit rock too." He shifted uncomfortably. She was right, maybe they were lucky to be alive. "I… I promise you, I wasn't going to let that happen. I wouldn't let you die alone."

Lucy giggled suddenly, her moody demeanor taking a slight detour. "Thanks, Natsu. That means a lot to me." He frowned, trying to figure out if she was joking or telling the truth, and just what the heck was so funny about the prospect of dying, alone or otherwise. The thought process faded away when he felt the soft palm of her hand against his exposed chest. The laughter died away as quickly as it had come, and suddenly there was a gentle pleading in her tone. "I really do mean that, you know. Everything you've ever done for me. From that very first day we met. It really does seem like I've been on the verge of death every day since Hargeon. But somehow, someway, you've always been there for me. Always ready to catch me if I fall, even at the risk of your own life. Always there to guide me home."

"You're family to me, to everyone in the guild," he said gently. "We don't need blood ties for that."

"I know, I know."

Lightly she traced her nails in slow circles over the hard muscle of his chest. Natsu went rigid at the unexpected sensation that coursed like a thunderbolt through his body. Still he held her, as much as he wanted to pull away. He wasn't exactly comfortable here. This was wrong, so very wrong. He was sure of it… and yet deep down it felt somehow natural. Lucy didn't push away, and he held her to him protectively. Naturally.

"The others…" he started.

"They moved on," she said quietly. "The mission. More than any one of us. It's life or death this time, Natsu."

Erza had said as much during the journey, when they realized just what darkness they were up against, Natsu remembered. Lucy was right. The others would have had to move on. They would just have to trust that Natsu, Lucy, and Happy could handle themselves on their own. Had they followed them into the crack of darkness that had opened up unexpectedly at their feet, there was no way to tell how much time they would have lost, or if they could have even found their way out. The mission was too important. More lives were at stake than just their own. He felt no resentment at being left behind. There was simply no choice in the matter.

Natsu thought maybe he would feel resentment had they deserted the mission in favor of their fallen guild mates. He needed them to trust in him, to believe that he would find a way out of even the most impossible odds. The circumstances today might seem dire, but he and Lucy had wriggled out of seemingly impossible situations before. She trusted him with her life. He needed everyone to believe in him as she did.

And, as it turned out, they did.

"Natsu?"

"Hmm?"

"You came for me."

"What do you mean? Course I did. I told you, I'm not gonna let you die alone."

Her hand, her fingernails still skimming the smooth surface of his skin, slid up, gliding over his chest and along the corded muscles of his neck until she gently cupped his jaw in her palm. "Thank you. For saving my life I mean."

Natsu swallowed. He kept his mouth shut.

"I suppose it's not like you had a choice. But even so…"

She squirmed unexpectedly in his lap, turning so that she faced him directly. The blanket that had been so precariously balanced over her shoulders slipped, and the barrier between them pooled about their hips. Natsu's face burned bright red as he stared down at her exposed chest. He wanted to turn away, but the touch of Lucy's hand at his jawline. He half expected her to lift his jaw so that he looked into her eyes, but she didn't. Instead she reached around his back with her other arm and pulled him gently into a loving embrace, his head planted against her throat so that he found himself staring straight down into the deep valley between her breasts.

"Thank you, Natsu."

He put his hands on her shoulders and gently eased her away, being certain to make eye-contact. Her face flushed right along with his, but she managed to keep from averting her gaze. In the past she would have responded very unfavorably to be seen naked. Natsu was caught off guard, but only briefly. Something she had said stirred a fire in his belly. He didn't want her to continue to think about their relationship in those terms.

"You're wrong, Lucy," he said slowly, firmly.

She cocked her head slightly. Her voice was soft, barely audible. "How so?"

"I _do_ have a choice." His eyes remained locked on her. His grip tightened ever so slightly on her shoulders. "Every time I leap I've made a conscious decision. I'm living up to the choice I made years ago. I'm a proud member of Fairy Tail, just like you. That is the choice. If ever I changed my mind, if ever I made a different choice… I wouldn't be a member of Fairy Tail anymore. I'd be an outcast."

He saw her lower lip tremble, but she kept her eyes locked on his.

"You make it sound like it's something you've considered."

Natsu had to smile. "Are you kidding me? Not a chance. I wouldn't trade my life with the guild for anything. Not no way, not no how."

Lucy tried to smile back, but there were tears in her eyes. Natsu's own smile faded as effortlessly as it had come. What was it he had said? Why was she crying? He wanted to reach out and cup her cheek in his hand but he didn't dare.

"I think you'd have come for me anyway," she murmured.

He frowned. "Lucy?"

"I _know_ you'd come for me," she said with a bit more conviction. Her eyes held his, even as she used her thumb to dab away the tears brimming her lids. "You'd come for sure. I don't have any doubts. Fairy Tail or not. You'd come for me, wouldn't you, Natsu?"

And now he met her conviction with his own.

"In a heartbeat. You know I would."

She nodded slowly, and then she smiled that gorgeous, glowing smile of hers. "Pretty sure I just said that." And as if that was all the confirmation she needed, Lucy again started to shift awkwardly in his lap. He felt something being tugged between them, and glanced down to see her pulling at the mass of blanket crumpled about their waists. She lifted one hip up as much as she could without tumbling off his lap, and with one last, mighty tug, she pulled the blanket free. She tossed it aside. Natsu stared incredulously at her bare white bottom pressed tightly against his lap, and his face flushed bright red.

"Okay, what exactly are you doing now?" he squeaked.

She seemed to consider his question, and then reached out and placed her fingertips against his abdomen. "Something stupid, I guess," she muttered trailing her fingers along his rock-hard muscles. Fire unlike any he had ever experienced burned unseen at her touch. Something else shifted between them, and Lucy's face burned bright red at the unexpected sensation against her bottom. She made no comment.

Instead, she pulled in a deep breath of the cavern's cool air. Her breasts rose and fell with the effort. Then, her face twisted in concentration, Lucy tucked a leg close, twisting her hips and lifting it with no small amount of effort just past his abdomen, her rump grinding against his groin as she turned to face him. She lowered her leg so that she straddled him, and arched her back, her breasts lifting as she did, and rolled her shoulders back in slow circles to work out the kinks. She chewed her lower lip as she did, studying the shocked expression on his face. She was nuts, he thought. She'd finally taken that irresistible tumble over the edge into madness. Any other time Lucy would have pummeled him to within an inch of his life with the nearest solid object she could lift over her head, but _now…_

Her arms reached up, circling his neck. She pulled him to her. Natsu's body went slack at her touch. He felt suddenly helpless for one of the very few times in his life, helpless in ways that might have rivaled the helplessness he felt against the overpowering strength of Gildarts during the S-Class Trials at Tenrou Island. This, however, was a much different kind of helplessness. Back then he had had a choice, and he had thrown up the white flag.

This time, there was no bargaining. No escape. This time there was only utter defeat.

She was smiling, he realized. She pressed her forehead against his and stared deeply into his eyes. He stared back, trying to comprehend the moment, but he wasn't entirely sure there was anything comprehensible about it. He felt her slender fingers drawing slow rings through the pink spikes at the nape of his neck.

"Uh…" He tried to say her name but he found the word was stuck somewhere in his throat. The small smile she wore turned turned devilish, and she did something completely unexpected, completely out of character. She lifted her hips, ever so slightly, and then eased them forward in a slow, deliberate manner. He clamped his mouth shut and swallowed hard as her groin slid over the top of him, deliberately focusing her effort on the hard rod between them. A new pulse of electricity shot through him, and he quivered helplessly beneath her. He found her name there somewhere, and forced it out of his lips in the form of a delighted sigh. "Lucy…"

"What's the matter, Dragon Boy?" she asked, dipping her hips suggestively against him a second time. His body went rigid again. A devilish gleam that matched her grin shown in her brown eyes. He averted his gaze, and she giggled. "You seem a bit discombobulated."

He was breathing hard, staring down not to see the swell of her breasts between them or that shadowy place between their hips, but as an excuse, any excuse, to avoid her gaze as she attacked him in a decidedly un-Lucy-like manner. "Discom-what?" he wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.

"Dis…com…bobulated," she teased, wiggling her bottom against him.

He shuddered, and suddenly squeezed his powerful fingers. Lucy let out a yelp of surprise. Natsu didn't know when exactly he had put his hands on her hips but apparently that had happened sometime during the encounter. He peered up abruptly, fixing his eyes on her face, but hers were closed, and she was leaning back, her breasts lifting toward him as she drew a deep, labored breath. Her hands had slipped from his neck, and rested, for the moment, on his sweat-slick shoulders. He felt her hips still twitching, grinding slowly back and forth against him. He wasn't entirely sure by her expression that it was intentional. Her shoulders, her entire body, trembled with the sole effort of trying to maintain her balanced as she straddled him.

At last her trembling eased, and she exhaled slowly. Her lowered her chin and she studied him through narrowed slits. Her brown eyes possessed a dreamy, haunting quality. He stared back. She forced a weak smile.

"Something stupid, right?" he asked, and found himself gently kneading her hips with his big hands. "I guess this does seem kinda stupid."

"Amazingly stupid," she agreed, her tone soft and quivering, and ground her hips forward again, a sweet little cry escaping her lips. Her hands fell away from his shoulders, gliding along the length of his muscular arms until they finally hung limp at her sides.

He let his hands linger for a time on her hips, and then expanded his focus, massaging both down her thighs as far as he could reach in his precarious position, and then up again, past her hips and over her abdomen. Her breathing continued, uneven, sometimes coming in short, ragged gasps and sometimes in deep, inspired pulls. She had stopped rubbing against him, as if she had concluded that the work was far too exhausting in her current state. It didn't matter. She moved against him regardless, through small involuntary bucks of her hips as he tested various spots here and there beneath his fingertips, and each time she did he felt every bump and grind along the rigid expanse of flesh beneath her.

Slowly, deliberately, his hands worked their way up her torso, exploring every inch of smooth skin. Slick with sweat, she seemed seemed to glow in the soft light of the cavern. She arched her back, beckoning him, craving his touch. Each breath, whether a tempered whimper or startled cry or stifled gasp, brimmed with pleasure and sweet anticipation. Natsu was at a loss regarding this strange change in Lucy's behavior. He couldn't imagine she had ever been so bold. A singular thought played in circles in the back of his mind: how well did he really _know_ Lucy Heartfilia? Maybe he really didn't know her at all.

He stared at her abdomen as he traced a slow, lazy circle along her navel with a thumb. She whimpered, trembling slightly against his fingertips. He could have sworn he heard a word in the whimper, perhaps his own name, but it failed to find form on her lips. He lay his palms flat against her belly, and then let them slide up. She trembled again, arching her back toward him, and grunted inaudibly as he at last let his hands glide delicately over her generous mounds. He gave each a gentle squeeze, testing the feel beneath each hand. She gasped with what he could only assume was a mixture of pleasure and agony; her legs, still wrapped around his waist, tightened as she arched her back even more, demanding his touch.

Smooth, delicate skin. Soft yet firm. The stiff tips of each tickled his palms as he kneaded her breasts, at first simultaneously, but then alternating between each mound. He stared in awe at her body, writhing deliciously at his touch.

He wondered, not for the first time, what the hell he was doing. More importantly, he wondered what the hell _she_ was doing. They'd always had a certain amount of chemistry, but he'd never once thought it might lead to something like this. This sort of intimacy seemed a distinct impossibility. Had he ever even viewed her in such a manner?

Sure, he'd always been curious. Who wouldn't be? But this had always been on the opposite side of a boundary he'd never even considered crossing. Now he had stepped over the threshold. No, he hadn't stepped… he'd been dragged unwittingly into her uncharted territory.

He found himself savoring the journey.

Chewing his lower lip, he loosened his hold on her breasts and focused his attention on the enticing pink tips that accentuated each. He lightly rolled his index fingers over each stiff nipple, listened to the soft gasp that spilled from her lips as she arched her back toward him. He gently pinched her nipples, twisting them, pulling them, examining her reaction. Her eyes flickered, her legs tightened around his waist, her hips bucked sharply against him. She let out a soft cry of pure, unrestained pleasure, twisting her head this way and that. Golden hair bounced on her shoulders. He was pretty sure he could see tears stinging the corners of her eyes. Not tears of shame or embarrassment or pain, but of simple, pure, unbridled emotion.

He leaned forward and flicked his tongue against one of her nipples. She moaned. "Dammit Natsu," she grumbled. He rolled his tongue over the other stiff nipple, and that's when he felt her hand against the back of his head. She pulled him close, burying his face into her chest as she gasped for breath. He felt her shifting again in his lap, her rump rising up. He wondered what she was up to now. Her body twisted against his. The slender fingers of one hand were entwined in his hair, holding his head firmly but gently against her chest. Her chin rested against the top of his head, and he thought he felt her breasts tumbling as the vibrations of a silent giggle rolled through her chest.

He went rigid when he felt her hand clamp around him. _Holy shit…_ A thousand variations of that singular phrase exploded in his thoughts as she began to roll her hips toward him in a smooth motion and at the same time began the highly demobilizing process of stroking her fingers up and down along his rigid shaft.

 _Holy SHIT…_

He grit his teeth. Somehow she was able to maintain a firm hold on his head, his face pressed to her breasts, even as her focus had fully shifted to the task down below. One of his hands was still held up, pressed against her side. He didn't dare lower it, and risk interfering with the process, but the other was free to roam, and he wrapped it around to the small of her back, offering support for what had to be an exhausting chore. He couldn't help but admire her ability to multitask like a champion. Or at least he assumed. He figured she had to be as inexperienced in this as he was. They were about the same age, and though he'd experienced a number of intimate moments in his life, none before had so explicit, or even remotely sexual in nature. Dreams and fantasies didn't really count, because in those there was no true connection.

There was a connection now. It would have been enough that she'd offered herself to him in the manner that she had. More than enough. Too much, really. This wasn't necessary. He hadn't done what he had done in search of any sort of reward. This was so out of character, for both of them, and yet, he was led to believe that _maybe_ this wasn't about a reward at all. This wasn't a thank you. This was… was…

The thought died as he trembled against her. Her hips continued to roll against him as she jerked him off. His hand tightened against her rump as he thrust his hips against hers convulsively, an instinctive attempt to meet the motion of her hand in sensuous unification. It was an awkward motion at best but still sent powerful waves of pleasure through him. Regardless he gave up on any further action and simply surrendered himself entirely over to her mercy. There was none, however, and for that Natsu would be forever grateful.

Instead, Lucy thrust her rump forward in response, squeezing her legs tight in order to hold him as close as possible, and quickened the pace of her strokes. He could feel, along with the tiny explosions of white electricity firing rapidly in his brain, the subtle pulsations of his cock as it slid effortlessly through her grip. He knew exactly what those tiny yet mind-numbing tremors meant.

He looked up at her through eyes narrowed into slits, and was surprised to find her own staring down at him. A small smile played slowly across her lips, and she lay her forehead on his. They maintained eye contact. Again she bumped her groin against his abdomen with a soft, deliberate thrust. She continued pumping his rod with skill he would never have anticipated. As she worked she surprised him with a easy kiss on the bridge of his nose. She quickened her pace, pumping faster. Natsu stiffened, easing his hips forward, offering her slightly easier access to continue her work.

He grit his teeth. His heart pounded deafeningly in his ears. He could feel the climax approaching, and wondered in that diminutive moment between breaths about that invisible wall that had somehow always stood between them, the wall they had never known about until just this moment when they decided without words to finally knock it down. Her breasts jostled in his face as she worked ever so diligently with the at the rod of flesh between his legs.

His breath caught. He squeezed her rump in one hand and pulled her toward him, grunting as a flash of white more brilliant than any previous blasted through his skull. That flash coincided with an explosion of pleasure as his hips buckled against her. He let loose with the force of cannon fire in her grip. Her thought he could hear something escape her throat that sounded like something between laughter and a cry of surprise.

His head was beginning to clear even as a third (or perhaps fourth) pulse of his cock loosed yet more seed out onto the cave floor. He leaned against her, breathing heavily, as he fought to gather himself. The hand that held his head to her chest gently stroked the back of his neck, comforting him against the shock of their shared intimacy. Was it shock? He supposed that was as good a way to put it as any, but it was a good shock, filled with pleasure and immense satisfaction.

"Whoa. You all finished down there?" Lucy asked. There was no small amount of amazement in her tone.

"For the moment," he wheezed through desperate pulls of breath.

"I think the moment's passed, Dragon Boy," she teased. "For now."

Natsu grunted a laugh.

She eased him up slowly to look at his face. He figured his was probably glowing as bright red as hers was, but there was a certain amount of satisfaction in her gaze. She seemed comfortable, something he never would have anticipated considering their spontaneous act. "You seemed to enjoy yourself."

"And you seemed to know what you were doing."

"Girl talk," she muttered softly, almost to herself. Her eyes trailed away from his, gazing off somewhere just out of his line of sight. He was too tired to look anywhere but straight ahead, past her breasts and into her obnoxiously calm face. He stared at that face which glowed with a sheen of sweat, focusing not on any one aspect individually but on the whole. Her brow creased in concentration and curiosity, deep brown eyes lost in fascination. Her tongue wet her lips.

Her fingers went slowly toward her mouth. Natsu's eyes locked on them, and a sudden moment of clarity struck him. Clinging to her fingers and oozing down into her palm was a thick glob of a milky liquid. His breath caught again as he stared in horror as she opened to her mouth and stuck out her tongue.

"Holy _SHIT_ ," he breathed, his tone shattering the moment even as she slurped a thick stream of cum off of one of her fingers.

Instantly, Lucy froze, as if just realizing that she had stuck a finger in her mouth, and just what it was she was sucking off of them. She slid her finger out of her mouth quickly as her eyes went wide with a terror that matched his own. Her face brightened into several more shades of red that he wasn't sure was entirely possible. In the moment of panic her legs went slack at his waist and she lost her balance, tumbling unceremonious onto the hard rock floor. She rolled onto her side, gagging, and began to cough.

He reached out for her hesitantly, and then took her shoulder in his hand. "Don't," she wheezed, and then hacked again. "Just don't." There were tears in her eyes, but he could have sworn as her cough finally died down that there was a small smile on her face and that maybe, just maybe, the glow on her cheeks indicated real happiness as opposed to embarrassment.

Natsu collapsed back onto his butt and stared off into the darkness.

"Holy shit…" he said again.

* * *

The pair were silent for awhile after, but they filled that silence by focusing on their next move. Natsu figured that Happy would be back shortly, so he gave Lucy her clothes and then focused on his own, taking note as he dressed that she had wiped the last bit of cum from her hands onto the blanket.

He pushed away a conglomeration of lewd thoughts and wrapped his scarf securely around his neck. Then he stood facing the wall, ignoring the girl nearby. Lucy herself was sullenly rolling her fingers over the pink parka she had chosen for the journey. It had been a good coat, but what she saw in the soft fabric broke her already fragile heart. The tear had probably been the result of the fall. Whether she'd skirted the bottom of the underground lake or river or whatever it was, or slammed into stone as she fell from the mountain into darkness didn't really matter. She only knew that there was a massive gash in the right side of her parka, and that it wouldn't do her much good if the weather on the surface grew worse. It hadn't been snowing during the few days they had been moving north, but the winds were nasty and the windchill even nastier. It made for a very long, very depressing journey.

Maybe she could use Horologium. He's always been wonderful to her in times of need.

Lucy sighed softly and folded up her coat. It wasn't necessary for the time being. The cave was warm enough, so long as Natsu continued to use his slayer magic to heat the stone beneath them periodically.

She glanced up to him, but he still wasn't looking her way. She sighed softly, and with the aid of a hand to her knee, she finally pushed herself to her feet. She stepped over the blanket and toward him, reaching out, intent on murmuring his name, intent on making things seem a bit brighter, if she could. She wasn't entirely sure how he really felt after their bizarre encounter, but she thought maybe he was as confused as she felt.

She opened her mouth, but even as her own lips worked to form the word, a different voice blasted down on them from somewhere in the shadows above.

"Natsu! Lucy!"

In response, Natsu lifted a hand high in the air and lit his palm with ball of living, magic fire. The light spilled across the cavern, and stretched toward the endless black above. As high as it reached however, he still couldn't see the ceiling. What he _did_ see, however, made his heart leap with joy. Lucy bumped into him with a shoulder, a gesture that spoke volumes. No words were needed. He glanced at her, and the grins they shared were all the communication they needed. They rose their hands and waved at the small, blue, flying fuzzball racing toward them.

"Happy!" Natsu said with a laugh, completing the wave with a pump of his fists. He extinguished the flame he had been holding and caught the grinning Exceed in his arms. "Geez, buddy! Are you a sight for sore eyes."

"It's so good to see you!" Lucy agreed.

Happy looked the girl up and down with concern, and then his face split into a huge, dopey grin. "You had me worried, Lucy. But you look like you're doing okay."

She flushed slightly. "Natsu knew just what to do. I was in good hands."

Given the circumstances, Natsu blushed as well. The expression on his face told her that she hadn't been in nearly as good of hands as _he_ had been in. Instead of continuing down that particular rabbit hole, Natsu changed the subject. "Did you find a way out?"

"Yeah! Except the hole is kinda small. You won't fit."

"Then what are we gonna do?" Lucy asked. There was concern in her tone as she looked up, as if peering through the darkness toward the hole Happy had discovered, even though there was no possible way that she could see through the shadows.

It was then that a deep, annoyed voice rumbled down at them. "Hey, Salamander! Get your scrawny ass out of the way!"

"Oh, right! Come on!" Happy put both of his tiny paws on Lucy's backside and started pushing as hard as he could.

Lucy looked down at him, incredulous. "Hey cat! What the hell?!"

The Exceed looked up at her suddenly, tears flowing from his big dark eyes. "Let's go, Lucy! Move your big heavy butt!"

"My big… Hey!"

Lucy froze when she caught the gleam in Natsu's eyes. He was grinning at her, revealing a lot of very white teeth. He grabbed her by the wrist. "Think we better get moving, Luce!" he said. Her jaw dropped as he gave her a tug, dragging her clear just as the world around them began to rumble.

Happy gazed up, his dark eyes widening. "Uh oh. Um, time's up!"

Natsu's smirk widened, and Lucy wore and expression of sheer terror.

That is when a shower of dust and stone crashed down on the spot where they had been standing, just a moment before. "Hey! Watch it!" Lucy cried up, sheer terror in her expression. "Actual real life living people down here, in case you didn't notice!"

"And actual, real life living savior getting your butt out of there so it doesn't become your damn tomb!" the voice rumbled in return. "Get a move on! We don't got all day!"

Lucy glanced at Natsu. "What's with everyone's fascination with my butt today?"

Natsu grinned. "Well, it does make for an awesome centerpiece for the guild…"

She glared at him, but there was no true fury in it. The fact that they were about to get out of the cavern, finally, softened what little anger she might otherwise would have felt. Happy, however, gave Natsu a strange look. "Centerpiece? That's a little creepy even for you, Natsu."

"Don't worry about it, Happy," Lucy said quietly. "We'll make sure he doesn't bring it up _ever_ again. Or he'll suffer a very long, agonizing death. In fact, I think we'll just have to forget about this whole entire detour." She fixed Natsu with a meaningful glare. "There's nothing about this cave I _ever_ want to have to live through again. So we're just going to have to forget all about it. _Aren't_ we, Natsu?"

He stared back at her, and then he drew a breath and smiled. With a nod, he sealed the pact, though Lucy could see the note of disappointment in his eyes as Happy flew up and grabbed her by the shoulders.

"You first, Lucy. I'll be right back down for you, Natsu."

"Sure," Natsu agreed. "Just take good care of her, little buddy."

"You know I will."

Happy and Lucy rose up and very soon were out of sight. Natsu dropped to the seat of his pants, staring up into the darkness, and smiled.

High above, Happy headed for the opening where he had found their salvation hours before. There were two shapes leaning over the edge, peering down into the darkness, though he knew there were more than two people waiting there. The gap was a lot wider than it had been before. He'd nearly missed it during his first flyby. Now he couldn't have missed it if he tried. Someone beyond held up a lantern, lighting a narrow corridor of stone. The two most prominent figures waiting at the ledge reached out as he approached, snatching Lucy's arms the moment she was within reach.

"Gotcha."

She would have gone to her knees immediately if not for the two powerful hands that held her upright. She leaned against the Iron Dragon Slayer, breathing heavily, and then put an arm around his stocky frame and smiled.

"Thanks Gajeel." She glanced up at Levy McGarden, who rushed over to put a hand on the small of her back and help her maintain her balance. She smiled weakly at her blue-haired friend. "You too Levy. Thanks for coming. But what–"

"Forget it. We'll explain everything just as soon as we can," Levy said. "Right now just get your bearings."

"Be right back!" Happy announced, and like a shot disappeared back into the shadows. Lucy watched him go with a growing relief that they'd managed to survive and that they were no longer trapped.

"Damn girl," Levy teased lifting Lucy's arm to drape it over her shoulder. "When you take a tumble you take a tumble. Don't you ever do anything small?"

"Afraid not. I guess they call us Team Natsu for a reason."

Levy giggled.

A third member of Fairy Tail appeared before Lucy, a short Exceed with dark fur and a serious complexion. "I'm glad to see you're unhurt, Lucy," Panther Lily said.

Lucy smiled weakly, and then peered about to the others. She recognized a handful of them. Eight in all, including with Levy, Gajeel, and Panther Lily. Three were members of the Thunder Legion; she didn't see the blond leader of the trio, and wondered briefly where Laxus had gone. It seemed Freed Justine, Bickslow, and Evergreen seldom went anywhere without their fearless leader ever since he'd rejoined the guild just before the Grand Magic Games. She chewed her lower lip in thought before shifting her gaze to the pair that had joined them.

The pair that she didn't recognize. One was a short, curvy woman with long locks of shimmering raven hair and beautiful bronzed skin, the other a tall, broad man that rivaled Elfman Strauss in stature. Lucy smiled weakly in greeting.

"Any idea how long we've been down there?"

"Happy isn't entirely sure," Levy replied quickly. "No more than half a day, I think. Would've been a lot longer if we hadn't gotten lucky. There's a storm brewing out there. Five more minutes and it would have been impossible for Happy to find us in the blizzard."

Lucy's heart skipped a beat. A storm? Didn't that mean they were likely going to be trapped here even longer anyway? She slumped, feeling more than a little defeated at the prospect. At least now she and Natsu weren't going to be stuck alone, but that was little consolation knowing that Erza and the others were out there facing destiny without them. She heaved a sigh and shook her head.

"Keep your head up, girl," Levy urged. "We're gonna get through this. We have to."

Lucy nodded. "Yeah we do." She felt the jingling set of keys at her hip and immediately felt a bit better about their predicament. She wasn't alone. Even if Gajeel, Levy, Panther Lily, and the Thunder Legion weren't there, along with the two strangers, she certainly would never be alone. She actually was feeling more than a little embarrassed that she hadn't thought to call on her friends in the Celestial Spirit World until just now. With the exception of Horologium, and at the time she'd only been worried about keeping her butt warm.

She sighed softly, giving her keys a pat. "Sorry I forgot about you," she murmured. "Won't happen again."

Behind them, Happy and Natsu appeared through the crack in the wall. Gajeel reached out and snared the Fire Dragon Slayer's arm and pulled him out of the darkness. Happy, obviously entirely worn out by the whole tiresome excursion, collapsed instantly… before he had managed to fly into the crack himself. He began the descent into the shadows.

Panther Lily, swelling magically into his full size in the same instant, rushed forward, leaning out into shadows. His fingers clamped down on the poor Exceed's tail just before he was out of reach. Panther Lily let out of a heavy, relieved sigh, and pulled Happy to safety.

"Yeah, bro," he said with a grunt of laughter. "Let's not go through that again. You just take a breather."

Happy stared up through exhausted eyes. "Yeah, never planned on that. Thanks."

Natsu knelt down next to his little friend and put a hand on his head. "Sometime I'm going to let you tell the whole story, buddy," he said through a big toothy grin. "But right now, you're a hero, and a hero needs his rest. You put me and Lucy on your back. Now you can just let me shoulder the load for a bit. Deal, Happy?"

"Aye sir," the Exceed murmured. Then he closed his eyes and was out like a light.

"Poor guy has been up and out there this whole time?" Lucy mumbled.

"It's kind of a miracle he found us at all," Levy said quietly. It wasn't the first time she'd suggested the difficulty of Happy's quest. Lucy wanted to wrap the little guy in a huge hug. He could be such a huge pain in the butt sometimes, but he was family, in some ways closer than family. She shared a bond with him almost as tight as the one he shared with Natsu.

"I think we should get a move on," the Fire Dragon Slayer said with loud finality as he hoisted the exhausted Exceed onto his shoulder. He looked around at the group surrounding him. No one seemed too keen on moving just yet. They had all been on the move for some time. Maybe they needed their rest too, but there just wasn't any time.

Levy glanced to Gajeel and then shrugged. "Natsu, it's not that we want to stop. It…"

"You're worried about the storm," Natsu said.

"Uh, yeah. You can't see more than a few feet in front of your face out there."

"Well then, it's a good thing we won't be going out there."

Gajeel leaned forward, placing a hand on the top of a befuddled Levy's head and peering sidelong at Natsu. "What're you thinkin' Salamander? I see the gears turnin' up there."

Lucy suddenly snapped her fingers. "I know what he's thinking." She grabbed the keys from their place at her hip and started shuffling through them as if they were a deck of cards. She was grinning when she located the one she was looking for, and lifted it toward the ceiling. "Open, Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"

Magic power surged through her from the key as it beckoned to a world somewhere beyond the visual spectrum. There was a light as the gateway to the Celestial Spirit World cracked opened, allowing for the slender maiden with pink hair to step through into the mortal world. She appeared there through through wall of shimmering light and stood before them and offered a bow with a hand crossed over her heart.

"Mistress Lucy? You summoned me. Perhaps you wish to punish me at last?"

Lucy went bright red at the seemingly innocent way Virgo suggested her "impending" punishment. She rolled her eyes and shot Natsu a look. He too was grimacing. In fact he averted his gaze the moment Lucy's eyes found his.

"No, not right at this moment," Lucy said warily. "In fact I think we've had enough punishment around here for one day."

Natsu stepped between them, hands on his hips. "Listen, Virgo. We're on an important mission. Maybe the most important that Fairy Tail's been a part of for as long as I've been a member. And we need you right now more than ever."

The pink-haired maiden gazed quietly at Natsu. It wasn't the first time that Lucy thought the pair could be brother and sister, if not for their very different lots in life. Natsu... well, he was a Dragon Slayer, and Virgo was a Celestial Spirit. Nope, there was no way their bloodlines could have ever possibly crossed. As a matter of fact, she wasn't even certain that this was Virgo's true form. Once upon a time, when she had actually first summoned Virgo, she'd learned that Celestial Spirits took the form they believed their masters would find most pleasing, so maybe she wasn't a slender, pink-haired woman at all.

Virgo tilted her head as she studied Natsu. "You want me to find you a way around the storm. So I dig north and you follow the trail I lay out for you."

Nearby, Lucy heard Levy's soft gasp of surprise. Beside her, Gajeel let out a low whistle.

Natsu flashed the celestial spirit a big thumbs up and his massive trademark smile. "Bingo! You're a dream, Virgo."

"When she maintains her focus," Lucy grumbled, folding her arms over her chest.

"So should I begin then, Mistress?"

"By all means. We'll be right behind you."

"As you wish! See you on the other side!"

And, with that, she was off, blasting through the wall of stone, presumably on her way north. There was no telling for certain that she was actually going north, of course, at least, not for Natsu and Lucy, who had lost all track of direction from the moment they had fallen into this underground nightmare.

"Right. Let's move," Natsu said, and dodged on down the newly-formed tunnel, Happy in tow.

The others followed. At least, most of them. Lucy held back for a moment. She was breathing slowly, her hand over her chest as she stared at the ground, trying to gather her wits about her. Levy stood beside her, waiting patiently. Gajeel, who had gestured for the Thunder Legion and the two strangers to move on ahead, paused at the opening of Virgo's new tunnel, glancing back over his shoulder to be sure they were coming.

"Go on ahead, Gajeel. Girl talk."

"That crap again?" the Iron Dragon Slayer muttered. "Just don't keep us waitin'."

He stalked off into the shadows, and for a moment, they were alone.

Levy wasted no time. "Okay, what happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened?"

Even as she fired back, Lucy knew Levy _knew_. She didn't know how she knew, or _what_ she knew, exactly, but Levy was highly intuitive. She knew… something, anyway.

"Don't dance around the question, Lucy. He's got you all flustered." Levy smirked. "And I noticed he's not in much better shape than you are."

"Nothing happened." She was tempted to say something more, something incriminating. Something like ' _Well, I'm still a virgin if that's what you're asking._ ' She tucked some of her hair behind an ear. She hadn't realize what a mess her hair was, but Levy couldn't possibly be assuming that her hair was a mess from something like _that_ could she? No way. They hadn't even really done anything that would result in messy hair. It was the fall, wasn't it? The plunge into icy water. The fact that it had dried funny because, frankly, she'd been unconscious the whole time.

"Uh huh. Your mouth says no but your eyes say yes, _yes, YES!_ " Levy remarked. Lucy blinked at the way she flung her head back and forth, tossing her blue hair in an explicit manner, with each emphasis on the word "yes". What the hell? "Come on Lucy. I know you, girl. And I know Natsu a lot better than you might think. There was something slightly more than 'nothing' going on down here."

Lucy gawked. And then she smiled and shook her head, and surrendered over to the truth. "Fine. Suffice it to say, he did something crazy, I did something stupid, and I could really use a toothbrush right now."

Levy stared at her. "You _didn't_ ," she whispered. And then she laughed, laughed harder than she had laughed in ages. She wrapped her arms over her slender belly and nearly doubled over as tears filled her eyes. "W… Wow, Lucy. That's… is 'awesome' the right word?"

"Yeah, right. Awesome. Look, Levy, I think you're imagining a bit more than what actually happened…"

"If that's really the case," Levy said through her fit of giggles, "let's leave it at that. I kinda like that image burned in my mind."

The Celestial Wizard rolled her eyes. "Pervert."

"Maybe a little. But I have one thing that'll make you thank a pervert."

"Creepy," Lucy said, though she was wearing a small smile. "What's that?"

Levy grinned as she held out a small package. "Stick of gum?"

"Levy McGarden, babe… you are a lifesaver."


End file.
